matthews



(No Model.)

B. S. MATTHEWS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR.

1n! rumomu. umocRAPn-um com-A Pagtgente-d May 22, 1894.

wAxmmuou. n. c.

E. s. MATTHEWS. HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

lPatented May 272, 1894.

Witnesses Gmwm;

Inventor H WY. Sat.

Attorney vn: mman Lmcouumm com-mv.

wAmmammp. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDIVIN S. MATTHEWS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF lONE-HALF TO .IAMES L. HAVEN,

OF SAME PLACE.

HYDRAU LIC ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part o f Letters Patent No. 520,166, dated May 22,1894.

Application filed February 12, 1892. Serial lim/121,24?. (No model.)

@ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN S. MATTHEWS, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county,Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in HydraulicElevators, of which the following is a specification.

The term hydraulic elevator might, in its broad sense, be held toinclude the carto he elevated, the hydraulic machine to do theelevating, and the necessary adjuncts for their connection, but in thepresent case that term is used as referring to the hydraulic machinewhich does the work.

My improvements -will be readily understood from the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich Y Figure l, is a side elevation of a hydraulic elevatorexemplifying my invention; Fig. 2, a plan thereof, withthehoisting-ropes, pilotvalve, cross head track and valve gear omitted;Fig. 3, a perspective view of the backcylinder head with its attachedsafety-stop return devices; Fig. 4, a perspective view of thefrontcylinder head with safety-stop attached; Fig. a vertical transversesection of the safetystop; Fig. 6, a vertical longitudinal section ofthe front cylinder-head; Figf, a rear elevation of the frontcylinder-head; and Fig. 8, a horizontal section of the bleed-valve.

Many, in fact most of the parts of this apparatus, are or may be of theconstruction usual in such machines and therefore no ex-A tendeddescription will be given of suchparts further than is necessary for acomprehension of my present invention- A In the drawingszi-l, indicatesthe usual hydraulic cylinder, strapped to the foundation shoes andcapable of endwise shifting as usual: 2, the front cylinder-head,secured as usual, to the cylinder: 3, the back `cylinderhead, thiscylinder-head, as usual, not forming a complete closure forthe back endof the cylinder, as the machine is of a single acting type: 4, the usualpiston-rods, extending backward from the piston of the machine to thecrosshead: 5, the crosshead, provided with the usual track-wheels: 6,the usual crosshead-track: 7', the usual head sheaves, mounted onashaftcarried in brackets formed upon the front cylinder-head, thenumber of sheaves depending of course upon the relation of traveldesired between the piston of the machine and the elevator car: 8, thetailsheaves, similarly mounted on a shaft carried by the crosshead: 9,'the hoisting-rope, with its tail end anchored to the machine, the ropepassing thence rearwardly overa tail sheave and then forwardly andaround a head sheave and so back and forth over all the sheaves andfinally leading up or oi to the hoist Way, and if a multiplicity ofhoisting-ropes are employed, as is usual, they will all follow thecourse ofthe single rope just referred to: 10, cable-guards extendingacross the sheaves and preventing the displacement ofthe ropes therefromand having their ends secured in the usual spiders secured to thebrackets `which carry the sheaveshafts,thesecablelguards consisting ofrods with their ends projecting inwardly through bosses on ltheirsupporting spiders, nuts being provided on the guards'insideand outsidethe spiders so that the guards maybe delicately adjusted to and from thesheaves and firmly securedV in adjusted position: 1l, the `main `valvestructure, having no peculiarities 'so far as my present improvementsare concerned, the

construction followed being substantially` such as is shown in my PatentNo. 465,611 of 1891, the office of the main valve being, to' control theflow of water to and from the cylinder, the main valve structure, in thepres-V ent case, being disposed alongside of and parallel Wit-h thecylinder-of the machine and at about the. level ot its top: 12, thepilot-A valve, which maybe as shown in my former"l patentreferred to:13, the valve-gear connecting the main valve with the pilot-valve andwhich vmay be as shown in my former patent: 14, the safety-stop valve,incorporated r within the main valve structure, and vvexem:e

plitiediu the present case asi a ported' valvco w surrounding andoperating on ports iny .the

main valve cylinder, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, the oice of thissafety-stop being. to automatically cut ol the dow of water to or'fromthe cylinderof the machine when the piston of the machine shall havereached either limit of its stroke, regardless of the position at thattime occupied by the main valve: 15,- the stem of the safety-stop valve:16, a yoke secured IOO to that stem and having vertical longitudinalslots extending through it from front to rear and from side to side: 17,a guide-pin rigidly supported in a bracket projecting from thesafety-stop structure,this pin projecting horizontally through the sideslots in the yoke 16 so as to form a guide for the vertical movements ofthe yoke: 18, a pin or roller mounted in the yoke, over and parallelwith the guidepinr`17, the end journals of this roller being carried invertical slots in the yoke so that the roller is capable of verticaladjustment in the yoke: 19, a cam-plate arranged for reciprocation inthe fore and aft slots of the yoke, the plate being provided with ahorizon tal slot which engages theguide-pin17,theupperedge of the platebeing formed into two horizontal curved cams meeting at the center andengaging under the roller 18, whereby when the camplate is moved ineither direction from the normal central position, the yoke will beraised and the stop-valve closed, the curve of the front cam beinggentle so as to etect a gradual closure of the stop-valve, while thecurve of the rear cam is comparatively abrupt so as to effect a quickerclosure of the stop-valve: 20, a sliding-rod mounted in suitable guidesand extending along parallel to the path of movement of the cross-headof the machine: 21, acollar on this rod to be engaged by a tappet on thecrosshead when or just before the cros'she'ad reaches its rear limit ofmotion: 22, a similar collar to be engaged when the crosshead reachesits forward limit of motion:

23, a tappe't secured to the crosshead, to operate on these collars: 24,(Fig. 5) adjusting wedges arranged in the yoke 16 over the journals ofthe roller 1S and serving as means for the vertical adjustment of theroller inthe yoke: 25, a rod extending forward from camplate 19 intoconnection with the rod 20, the connection between the two rods, whilenot direct, as hereinafter specified, being positive sothat movement ofrod 20, as eected by the crosshead tappe't, results in positive end-Wis'el movement of the cam-plate: 26, a bleedvalve'or cock arranged inthe lower portion of the front end of the cylinder of thev machine, thisvalve or cock being of any ordinary or suitable construction, asexemplifiedA in Fig.8, and as will be later explained, the `oce of thisbleed-valve being to remain normally closed but to automatically open atproper 'times and permit a leakage to take place from the cylinder ofthe machine: 27, the valve-rod of the bleed-valve, adj ustably connectedwith rod 20 so that when rod 2O is moved. by the crosshead at thebacklimit of the stroke of the machine, the bleed-valve will be opened atproper time and held open so long 'as the crosshead occupies itsposition of'back limit of stroke: 28,mechanism for automaticallyreturning the safety-stop valve to its normal openposition when thecrosshead shall have moved vin either direction from its position oflimit of stroke, this mechanism being hereinafter termed the returndevice:

29, a shaft journaled in brackets formed with or mounted upon the upperportion of the back cylinder-head, one box at each side of the machine,this shaft forming the top shaft of the return device and extendingendwise beyond that side of the machine on which the valve apparatus ismounted: 30, a similar shaft similarly mounted on the lower portion ofthe back cylinder-head and forming the lower shaft of the return device:31, a lever fixed to shaft 29, just outside the box which supports theshaft, the lower end of this lever having connected to it the rod 20 sothat any endwise movement of that rod, as etected by the crossheadtappet, results in a rocking of the shaft: 32, a weight, shown partiallyin dot-VV ted lines in Fig. 3 so as not to obscure the parts behind it,this weight having vertically slotted tails engaging the two shafts ofthe return device, so that the weight may move vertically and .be`guided in such movement by the shafts: 33, arms projecting horizontallyfrom the upper tail of the weight: 34, l. lever fast on shaft 29 andengaging its ende under the arms 33 so that the tendency ofthe t;

gravity of' the weight is to hold the lever 33 in a normal horizontalposition, and so that if shaft 29 and lever 34 be rocked, in eitherdirection, the weight will be lifted and form a resistance to suchrocking and yan agent v tending to return the shaft to normal position:35, a lever xed upon shaft 29, ont wardly beyond the other parts securedto that shaft, the lever being adjustable in Ind out upon the projectingshaft, thelower end of this lever having connected to it thenod 25 ofthe cam-plate, the structure being the fore such that rods 20, and 25and levers 3i; 31 and 35 all move togetherz. 36, (Fig. 2)'3 roller onthe top shaft of the returndevies, t

to support the hoisting-ropes passing endwiee over kthe machine: 37,upward projections from the sides of the front cylinder-held, piercedfor the reception ofthe tails of "the hoisting-ropes which are thereanchored n the appropriate side of the machine: 38, ig. 2) the ,tail ofthe hoistingfrope thus anchored to one of these proj ections,it beingunderstood of course that if a multiplicity of hoisting ropes areemployed, their tails will be similarly anchored in this projection, thedrawings showing the projections as pierced to receive the tails of fourhoisting-ropes, the lmchoring being effected by a threaded shank on thehoisting-rope engaged by a nuten the front face of the projection of thecylinderhead: 39, the brackets projecting forwardly at each side of thefront cylinder-head, to l'ey ceive the shaft of the head-sheaves ofv themachine, the .distance between these brackets being greater than thatcalled for bythe number of head-sheaves employed by a degree representedby the thickness of one sheave, whereby the groupof sheaves may vbeshifted to one side or the other a distance corresponding to the widthof a sheave: 40, the shaft of the head-sheaves, carried by the brackets39: 41,'vertical holes in each of the brackets 39 and near thesheave-shaft: 42, a bolt, properly anchored in the foundation, andextending up through the appropriate one of the holes 4l and having anut over the bracket, this bolt being disposed in that bracket which issubjected to the upward strain of the hoisting rope as it finally leavesthe head-sheaves, f

the drawings assuming the hoisting-rope as starting, at 38, 0n the frontside of the machine and passing in its several turns over the sheavesrearwardly until it finally passes up from the rear one of thehead-sheaves: 43, the hoisting-rope thus finally leaving theheadsheaves: 44, a loose collar on ,the head-sheave shaft, between thefront bracket and the' front one of the head-sheaves, this collarserving to hold the group of sheaves'to the rear, and permitting thegroup to be similarly held against the front bracket by moving thecollar to a position between the group of sheaves and the rear bracket,such change of position of collar and sheaves being effected when thesituation of the machine is such as to call for a hoisting-rope finallyleaving the headsheaves at the front of the machine instead of at therear, in which case the tail 3S of the hoisting-rope would be anchoredin the rear one of the projections 37 and, correspondingly,anchor bolt42 would engage the front bracket instead ot the rear one: 45, thespiders, previously referred to, secured to the brackets and crossheadand serving for the support of the cable-guards 10: 46, a horizontaltube cast upon the forwardnpper portion of the front cylinder-head, theopening in this tube extending entirely through 'itz 47, a port in thecylinder-head, placing this tube in communicationwiththenpperfrontportionof the cylinder ofthe machine; 48, a blind flange closing therear end ofthe tube, that end of the tube oppositethe valve apparatus:49, a flange on the main valve structure, specifically in the presentcase on the body of the stop-valve, uniting the valve structure to thevtube and furnishing the support for the valve vstructure, thisconnection therefore forming the sole support for the Valve'structureand the means of communication between the valve structure and thecylinder of the machine: 50, an inwardly open rectangular pocket formedat the center of thefrcnt cylinderhead, the body of this pocketprojecting outwardly from the front face of the head: 5l, (Fig. 4)horizontal ribs on the front face of the front cylinder-head, extendingfrom the body of the pocket 50 to the brackets 39, and serving to bracethe brackets and pocket and cylinder-head and transmit strains betweenthem: 52, rectangular spring-plates disposed within the pocket, withtheir ends restingy against shoulders in the upper and lower vwalls ofthe pocket: 53, a spring plate disposed against the inner face of thepile of plates within the pocket and extending endwise beyond thoseplates and having its extended ends secured to the inner face of thecylinder-head, there being one or more of these plates 53, which thusform additional spring plates for'the series, and also a keeper for thepile of plates within the pocket: 54, a central proj ection'on the frontface of the piston of the machine, adapted to make -contact with thespring plates when the piston reaches its front limit of stroke: 55,(Fig. 8) alspring to hold the bleed-valve normally closed and permitthat valve to be pulled open when the crossheadtappet moves rod 2Orearwardly, the bleedvalve, in the exemplication, being merelya pistonworkingin a ported cylinder: 56, connection placing the bleed-valve incommunication with the lower front portion of the cylinder of themachine: 57, outlet from the bleed-valve, to be properly connected witha discharge-pipe to carry o the Water: and 58, an eye upon the yoke ofthe stop-valve to receive attachment from a weight or spring to serve indrawing the yoke down and opening the stop-valve.

.In the illustrations the hoisting-rope finally `leaves the head-sheavesat the rear, and all the valve apparatus is disposed at the front of themachine.v The arrangement of .the hoisting-rope may be reversed, asbefore explained, by shifting the tail anchor to therear projection andby shitting the collar 44 to the rear head-bracket, and anchor bolt 42-would then be located inv the -front head bracket where the upwardstrain of the hoisting-rope is imposed. `The valve apparatus kIOC mayalso be located at the rear ot therm'achine by transposing thevalvestructure and blindflange 4 8, andlby reversingthe projections of theshafts of the return device. lA Normally,

the safety-stop valve is open, and the flow of water controlled entirelyby the position of lthe mainvalve.` .When the machine reaches the backllimit of its stroke, corresponding to the top limit 0f the velevator'car, the attendant may have failedto have secured proper nos I I0 vcontrol of the elevator by means of thevalves, in which case a shockwould take place at the j top of the lift.' i But in thepresent case,when Y 'i 4this limitof stroke is approached, the crosshead-tappet willpush rod 2O rearwardly andv the right hand portion of the cam-plate willcause the safety-stop valve toclose, thus practically severing the maincylinder from the main valve and bringing the machine to rest.

With a completely closed safety-stop valve in this condition, the mainvalve could not permit discharge from the vcylinder of the machine inorder to start the car away from itstop j mit indow tothe cylinderof themachine and? thereby cause the limit of travel to befexceeded even'withthe stop-valve thus closed.`

Compensation for such inflow is therefore' made by causihgithebleed-valve to open and 1 permit the inflow due to incomplete closure topass away. By the present arrangement each time the safety-stop isclosed with the machine at its back limit of stroke, the bleedvalveopens the discharge from the extreme lower portion of the cylinder, thuspermitting grit, dirt, dto., to discharge from the cylinder, the inletof water to the cylinder being at its top and its bleed-valvedischarging from the bottom, whereby an eiiicient washing action isproduced. Vhen theV machine reaches its forward limit of stroke,corresponding with the lower limit of car travel, thestop-valve againcloses automatically, but the bleed-V valve does not open, the baderarrangement of the spring plates preventing any further movement of thepiston and this action of the limitation stop-valve may be made muchsharper by making the appropriate cam-cu rve steeper. 1Thevwedges 24serve in vertically adjusting the yoke with reference to the cam wherebythe closed position of the stop-valve may be graduated to give thedesired degree of inflow. After the stop-valve has been closedautomatically, at eitherlimit of stroke, the weight of the return devicewill restore the valve to normal open position when the machine startson its return from its position of limit of travel.

The inner plates 53 of the series of spring plates may be employed as ameans for adjusting the forward limit of piston travel, by employing agreater orV less number of the keeper plates, thus providing for anaccurate limit of stroke adjusted to suit the level of a lower carlanding.

When the piston makes contact with the buffer-springs 53, the strain isbrought centrally upon the piston, thus avoiding bending strains uponthe piston-rods, and the forward strains of this contact on the frontcylinderhead are met by the rearward strains of the hoisting-ropes onthe head-sheaves, there being therefore no tendency to open the joint ofthe cylinder-head. The tube 46 of the front cylinder-head braces thathead and all the strain parts connected with it. With a given size ofmain cylinder, the situation may call fora choice among several sizes ofmain valve structures, the result of which will be a possible variationin the horizontal distance between cam-plate 19 and the center of themachine, while the return device would remain constant in sizeregardless ofv change in size of main valve. The adjustment of lever 35of the return device, in and out on its shaft, provides compensation fordifference i-n main valve structures.

By inspecting Fig. 3 it will be seen that, when a given situationrestricts side-room, weight 32 and lever 34 may be put at the other endof the shafts of the return-device, or 1ever 35 or 3l or both may beplaced there either with them or alone, the system being quite elasticas to arrangement of parts.

lt will be noticed, from an inspection of Fig. l, that rearward movementof the crosshead when near back stroke limit, results in movement of thecam-plate and proper closure of the stop-valve, the opening of thebleed-valve taking place only whenV tappeti 59 7o engages collar GO, andthat collar 60, being adjustable along its rod, permits of the adjustment of the time of bleed-valve opening with reference to stop-valveclosure. Y

As the car approaches its lower limit ofr travel it may be arrested withcomparative suddenness bythe action of the cam-plate upon thesafety-stop, this water arrest, it being understood, taking placeindependent of any arrest by the buffer, which acts later if 8o Q atall. Comparatively sharp arrests may this be made accurately at thelower landing.

the two operative inclines upon the cam-plato Y are diiferent, eachbeingas abrupt as is prac ticable, but that corresponding with thelo-wel landing being much the more abrupt of the two. And in arriving atthe proper degrees of abruptness for the cams regard must be had for theindividual conditions'under which the."V elevator is operating,speeds,distauce between.

lower landing and absolute lower limit or bufi L fer point of arrest,dsc. It is therefore almoetf impossible to plan the cams in advance, and

it becomes desirable to properly shape them.. after the elevator is putinto operation. And

this is readily done in the construction seh forth, by simply dressingthe operative om surfaces to produce the best practicable re i sults.This cannot be done where a slotted cam is'employed engaging above aswell le below its roller or pin.

The cylinder is strapped to the foundation shoes in au ordinary mannerand is capable of the usual endwise adjustment with refer ence to thefoundation so as to secure the proper lead to the hoisting-ropes as theyleave the sheaves. If anchor-bolt 42 were rigid or restrained belowbracket 39, it would interfere with this endwise adjustment of thecylinder, but in the construction set forth, f' there is no interferencethe one with the other.

Heretofore anchor-bolts have, in cases, been extended from the bracketsdiagonally down#n i ward and anchored to some parts moving with thecylinder as it was adjusted with reference to the foundation. Suchanchor-bolts would, of course, become merely the tension diagonals ofthe out-reaching brackets and would not at all properly meet the strainsas in the present case. s

The cable-guards 10 are adjustable radially Al by means of the nuts upontheir Shanks and they can therefore be adjusted with nicety Y down tothe cables or sheaves. Heretofore paille-guards have been fixed inradial posiion.

By inspecting Fig. .1, it will be observed that cam-plate 19 isvirtually a lever fulcrumed on pin 17 which supports it and that rod 25is a prolongation of this lever attached to the lower end of rocking-arm35. It will be obvious that as arm 35 swings in its are of motion thepivot which unites it to rod 25 will rise and fall to a degreecorresponding with the versed sine of the are. The result is thatcam-plate 19 becomes rocked upon the pin which supports it, and theeffect offthis rocking is to raise and lower the portion acting upon thevalve-stein. Indeed, if the camplate 19 were straight upon its uppersurface instead of having the form of a cam, a certain degree of risingand falling motion would still be given to the valve-stem. And a furtheranalysis of the movement will show that as arm 35 rocks to the left thedistance becomes greater between the arm and the valvestem, and ofcourse, also between the arm and the pin 17 on which the cam-platerocks. Therefore, while the valve-stem will be given vertical motion asarm 35 rocks each side of the vertical, Vthe vertical motion given tothe valve stem will be greater when arm 35 rocks to the right of thevertical than when it rocks to the left, and it will be observed thatgreater motion to the valve stem is given in correspondence with thelower landing, where quicker motion is wanted, this being the veryreason for quickening the incline at the left of the cam.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a hydraulic elevator, the combination,substantially as set forth, of a safety-stop valve-stem, a fulcrum pinthereunder, a bar arranged to slide upon said fulcrum pin and engageupwardly upon said valve-stem, a swinging arm normally at right anglesto said bar, a prolongation from said bar to a pivot carried by saidswinging arm, and means for swinging said arm.

2. Ina hydraulic elevator, the combination, substantially as set forth,of a safety-stop valve-stem, a roller or pin carried thereby, acam-plate having two dissimilarly-inclined gradually curved cams joiningat a central depression and dissimilarly inclined immediately from saiddepression and engaged by said roller or pin, and connections betweenthe cam-plate and piston-moved parts of the machine to move saidcam-plate when those parts reach the limit of stroke the steeperinelineof the cani-plate operating upon the stop valve at that end of thepiston-stroke corresponding with the lower end of cartravel.

3. In a hydraulic elevator, the combination, substantially as set forth,of a safety-stop valve, connections from the piston-moved parts of themachine to properly close said valve when those parts reach a limit ofstroke, a bleed-valve, connections from said pistonmcved parts to opensaid bleed-valve, andV vsubstantially as set forth, of a safety-stopvalve-stem, a slotted guide-yoke thereon, a rigidly ,supported guide-pinengaging the guide slot of the yoke, a longitudinally slotted cam-plateengaging said guide-pin, a pin or roller carried by the yoke andengaging the cam, and connections between the camplate and piston-movedparts of the machine to movesaid cam-plate when those parts reach thelimits of stroke.

6. In ahydraulic elevator, the combination, substantially as set forth,of a safety-stop valve-stem, a slotted yoke thereon, a rigidlysup portedguide-pin engaging said slot, a pin or roller carried by the yoke, acam-plate engaging' said pi'n or roller, wedges in the yoke foradjusting the position of the pin or roller,

and connections between the cam-plate and piston-moved parts of themachine to move said cam-plate when those parts reach the limits ofstroke.

7. In a hydraulic elevator, the combination, substantially as set forth,of a safety-stop valve-structure, a bracket and stem projectingtherefrom, a guide-pin supported by said bracket, a yoke and operatingcam mounted on said guide-pin, and connections between the cam-plate andpiston-moved parts of the machine to move said cam-plate when thoseparts reach the limits of stroke.

8,. In a hydraulic elevator, the combination, substantially as setforth, of a cylinder-head having projections disposed at its front andrear upper edge and tted to receive the tail of thehoisting-rope, agroup of head-sheaves for the hoisting-rope, two brackets 'arranged tosupport the shaft of said sheaves and disposed a distance apart asheave-width in eX- cess of the widthof the group of sheaves, and acollar on the sheave-shaft at one side of the group of sheaves.

IOC

IZO

9. In a hydraulic elevator, the combination,

substantially as set forth, with a cylinderranged in the pocket to beengaged by said striking-point.

13. Inahydraulicelevator,the combination, substantially as' set forth,of a 'safety-stop valve, an upper and lower shaft, a Weight guided bysaid shafts and having arms, levers on one of said shafts and held innormal central position by said arms and weight, connections betweensaid levers and safety-stop valve, and connections between said leversand the piston-moved parts of the machineto move said levers when saidparts reach the limits of stroke.

14. In ahydraulic elevator, the combination, substantially as set forth,with a hydraulic cylinder, a safety-stop, anda safety-stopclosingdevice, of a pair of shaft-boxes carried by said cylinder at its top, apair of shaftboxes carried by the cylinder at its bottom, the axes ofsaid boxes being at right angles tothe axis of the cylinder, and shaftscarried in said boxes and having their ends projecting for the supportof said closing-device.

y EDWIN S. MATTHEWS.

XVitnesses:

J. W. SEE, JAS. FI'rToN.

